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“Today the Internet informed me that a cuckoo called David has reached his home in Wales,” . The essay, “Flight Paths,” explores how tagging animals with satellite trackers allowed us to learn more about their migration paths—and confirmed that, counter to Aristotle’s belief, birds do not hibernate in the winter.

Tracking animal migration is a science, but to McDonald—and no doubt many birders—it’s also a wild journey. We might be tethered to our desks and brick-and-mortar homes, but, via GPS-enabled updates, we, too, can journey with the likes of David the cuckoo, as he flies thousands of miles north from his winter residence in the Sahara.

Plenty of projects allow virtual travelers to tag along on an avian migration ride, and explore the conservation science behind the pursuit. If you find yourself developing wanderlust, get outside and track birds yourself.

Cuckoos: explains why they track the cuckoos, including David. “We’ve lost over half the number of Cuckoos in the U.K. over the last 20 years.” The group has been tracking the birds since 2011 to find out why. This year, the Trust even teamed up with a bookie to place bets on which Cuckoo would get back first.

Hummingbirds: Not all tracking is high-tech. show how hummingbirds make their way north up the East Coast in the spring. There’s also , created by Missouri-based birder Lanny Chambers.  

Whooping Cranes: These endangered birds make their way south every year through  the midwest to the Gulf coast. Check out Operation Migration’s , and .  

Raptors: Follow the movements of an eagle named Grace on . Photos are also available from the decade-long (and now complete) .

Waterbirds: The USGS to better understand and predict the movement of avian influenza viruses.

Shorebirds: The International Shorebird Survey uses a to figure out where these wetland-faring birds need help.

The image above was the cover image for Լ����Ƶ Magazine's March-April 2012 issue. Read that cover story, "Unlocking Migration's Secrets" here.